Mikado
by icywarm
Summary: Mikado and his parents were on a regular trip to an art museum. However, that all changes when he views a painting titled 'Fabricated World' and suddenly is thrust into a strange, dark version of the museum. One that wasn't like the original at all.
1. Into the Fabricated World and the Rose

**New fic time~ This time, it's a crossover of Durarara and a PC horror game known as Ib. I do hope that you'll enjoy this installment. By the way, I own neither.**

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It was an early afternoon. The sky was grey. A storm was growing close. But it wouldn't hit for awhile yet. So the family didn't have to worry about being soaked. They merely walked into the museum.

"Mikado, do you have your handkerchief? I would hope so. I got it for your birthday." The boy nods. "Good. This is your first visit here, right?"

'_I can't believe that I'm fifteen and never been to a museum yet.'_

"Anyway. We're here to see an artist by the name of-."

"Sonohara Anri!" She was interrupted by her husband, Shinra. The next moment, Shinra was doubled over the floor, clutching his stomach because Celty, his wife, had just forcibly jabbed him for interrupting her.

"Yes. An artist named Anri. There are several works of her art here, from paintings to sculptures. I'm sure-."

"You'll love it son!" Again, Shinra interrupted Celty, and again, he was jabbed. The three of them then made their way to the reception desk. The name on the name tag read 'Kasuka'.

"Can we have a few pamphlets to look at?"

"Of course." Kasuka shifted around before grabbing two pamphlets, one for Celty and one for Shinra. "Here you two are."

At that moment, Mikado tapped his mom's shoulder. "Mom, may I go look at the exhibits?" She nodded, and Mikado was off. People were blocking most of the paintings though, which only left a few sculptures in the area for Mikado to see. Though, Mikado didn't care. He thought every single piece of art was neat. Then, he got to one particular painting. The 'Fabricated World' one. "It looks like a dark version of the gallery…"

The lights flickered for a moment before turning back on. Mikado looked around. "Huh. That was weird. Oh well." He sighed before heading to the left. He'd go meet up with his parents. However, something caught his attention. "Everyone… Everyone is gone." He grew a bit panicked as he made his way down the stairs. "Mom! Dad!" But no one was there.

Even more panicked, Mikado tried the door. It was locked. He was locked in. Now, the lights went out, causing Mikado to let out a small, frightened yelp. The windows! The windows would let him out. He scrambled the few steps it took to get to the window that was closest to the door. It was unlocked, but it wouldn't open, and Mikado wouldn't be able to break it. Mikado shakily made his way to the window to the left. This one had to let him out. However, as soon as Mikado touched the window, it started to leak a red liquid. A liquid that smelt like blood. "B-blood…"

It was blood. The window was bleeding. Mikado didn't even think before he fled up the stairs. At the top of the stairs leading the second floor, he saw a figure walk past the window. "This is the second floor…" Forgetting his fear from the bleeding window, Mikado approached the window. As soon as he was standing in front of it, the figure came back, a shadow, really, and banged on the window, cracking it before it disappeared.

Mikado gulped lightly. "I-I don't like this. At all." He glanced around. There really wasn't a soul around. Gulping again, Mikado started to wander around the second floor until he came back to the 'Fabricated World' painting. Blue paint was dripping from it. Not thinking, he walked up to the paint. Suddenly, there were ten distinct sounding thumps behind him. Turning, Mikado saw letters on the ground. 'c-o-m-e-m-i-k-a-d-o'. "Come Mikado…"

He was being messaged. Messaged in a museum where the lights were out and everyone was missing. Without reading the words written on the wall in blue paint behind him, Mikado ran. He ran all around the gallery trying to find a way out. But it didn't work. Finally, he made his way back to the painting, so he could read the writing. 'come down below mikado I want to show you something secret'.

"Below… Below for what?" Maybe, maybe it'd bring him back to the other people. It was the only hope he had. Slowly, he made his way back down the stairs, and then to the right. The first thing that he noticed was that the 'Abyss of the Deep' wasn't contained all the way. Part of the rope was missing. It was missing and paint was splattered where the rope one once. Mikado stepped over to it, so he could examine it. However, he tripped, and instead of falling onto the painting, he fell into it.

Now, he was in a strange place. Where he had fallen from was nothing. Just a blank wall. There were two ways to go. First, he wandered the left. However, the only thing there was a locked door. Frowning, Mikado made his way over to the far right. As he walked down the hallway, he noted that the word 'come' was written three times on the wall. Well, he was going.

Finally, he made his way to the end of the hall. There was a door. In front of the door was a little shelf. On the little shelf was a vase. And in that vase was a rose of zaffre blue color. It had three petals on it, but it was still beautiful, alive and well. Without hesitation, Mikado took the rose. It felt like he needed to. He carefully held the rose as he pushed the shelf away from the door.

"It's unlocked…" A bit hesitant, Mikado made his way into the room. In it, there was a paper on the wall, a painting above it, as well as a key on the ground. First, he made his way to the paper, so he could read it. 'When the rose wilts, so too will you wilt away.' Mikado clutched the rose to his chest. "Does that mean… when the rose dies… I die?" In any case he didn't want to risk it. He'd keep the rose safe.

There was only one door that that key could go to. The one locked to the west. Mikado inhaled before picking the key up. As soon as he did, the painting's face turned creepy. A twisted smile and cat-like green eyes. Mikado didn't even have to think before fleeing the room.


	2. The Bug Room

**2232. That's how many words this chapter is without my author's notes here. As with chapter one, I don't own Durarara or Ib. I hope you enjoy.**

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The first thing he noticed was a paper hanging on the wall opposite of the door. Still clutching the rose rightly, Mikado walked to the paper, and read it allowed. "You and the rose are connected. Know the weight of your own life." He frowned as he reread the words. "This does mean that if the rose dies, I die." Mikado turned back around, facing the door he had walked through. The vase he had pulled the rose from still had water in it, so he placed the rose in the vase.

The teen's eyes shined with wonder as he watched the rose grow full, gaining two more petals, bringing it to a full five. "Five petals is full… I have to be very careful. It wouldn't do to die in a place like this. Or this young." He clutched the stalk of the rose a bit tighter. "I have to get out. Get out and get back to mom and dad." The only way was forward. He had to keep walking and, eventually, there'd be a way out. At least, Mikado hoped so.

He was about to start forward towards the locked door when he noticed red writing on the blue wall. 'Come' had been written in only a slightly lighter blue, so this writing was way more noticeable. It read thief. "That's right... I just stole this key. That makes me a thief." Mikado frowned. He needed this key though. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have taken it.

From what Mikado could see, it was written four times in total, all along the wall until the area he had first came in from. He was halfway through the hall, just past the second written 'thief' before the teen could hear a loud thump, causing him to subconsciously take a few steps back. It was a good thing he did, because on the floor, where he had just been standing, was another word written in red paint. Again, it was thief. Mikado groaned as he stared at the bright letters. They seemed to be mocking him. Staring at him. Reaching deep into his mind to pull out all his guilt of stealing the key.

He shook his head. He couldn't let this get to him. "I stole the key. I know. I'm sorry. But I have to get through this place. I have to find a way out. Get back to my family…" Look at him. He wasn't talking to anyone. Mikado had just arrived at this strange place, and it seemed as if he was already going insane. After all, he was talking to _paint _about a stolen key. A key that was lying on the ground, nothing but a painting near-by. Mikado shook his head again before walking over the paint and past the other two 'theif's on the wall.

It was just one section now until he could get to the locked door, but Mikado stopped. There were two paintings on the wall. He wanted to look at them. Observe them. Really, it was scenery. One was blue tinted, the other red. There were no other differences between the works. "I wonder why these are here… Maybe decoration? It's unsettling having them here and not knowing why…" He shook his head. Useless speculation. He had to get going. Before something bad happened. Because… it felt like it would.

Quickly, Mikado moved towards the west. The only thing there was the door. The door he had a key for. Inhaling as to prepare himself for whatever may be on the other side, Mikado stuck the key into the lock, slowly turning it before he heard a 'click', signifying that it was unlocked.

Letting out the now shaky breath, Mikado pushed the door open, wincing as it let out a creak. He hated it when door creaked. It gave him a sense of doom. And in a place like this, he didn't want to feel doomed. Because, feeling doomed in this place, would lead him to his doom. Doom… dying… was not something Mikado wanted to experience at the tender age of fifteen.

The room honestly didn't seem that bad, which caused Mikado to let out a breath of relief. To his right was a hall lined with different paintings of bugs, and a door to the far right. Almost immediately in front of him, though a bit to the left, was a pillar. Taped, or perhaps just stuck to the pillar, was a paper. If Mikado wanted to, he could just walk around the pillar and keep going north. However, if it was a warning or a notice and he missed it… Shaking his head, Mikado slowly crept up to the paper before letting his eyes scan over it.

**BEWARETHEEDGES**

"Beware the edges… The edges of what? Maybe… the walls past this pillar?" Mikado glanced around the pillar. It seemed fine. Nothing there. Just green walls and a corner to turn. Mikado frowned lightly. It really didn't seem like anything was there. But this place, he had just gotten into it, and already he knew that warnings were… warnings meant business. "Beware the edges… So walk in the middle."

Inhaling lightly, Mikado walked around the pillar until he stood in, what had just been behind, front of the pillar. He could either take a step to the left, or a step to the right. He wouldn't be doing either of those two options though. After all, the paper had been a warning about the edges.

It was a good thing the teen had heeded the warning, because two steps down the path, and an arm reached out of the wall for him. An arm. A dead arm. Charcoaled, burnt, black arm. But, it was very much alive. Alive and reaching for him. Not only was it alive and reaching for him, but it was also making sounds. Screeches. Just barely audible screeches that sounded like that someone would make were they burning alive.

Immediately, Mikado's back was against the wall that was to his right. His breathing was fast and labored. After all, there was a severed, burnt hand that was _screaming_ two steps in front of him now. The long fingers seemed to ooze blood, but it was only Mikado's imagination making them look scarier than they were. Not to say they weren't scary themselves.

After what seemed like forever, Mikado's breathing started to even out. The arm didn't move. At least, it didn't move from where the edge of the arm, where the elbow would be, connected to the wall. The arm itself did move, shaking about, trying to get him. It was evident that it wouldn't.

Mikado let out a sigh of relief. He just had to keep to the middle. If he stayed away from the edges, the arms wouldn't get him. And it was a good thing that he did, for three more of those arms came out to try to get him. One on the right, another on the left, and then one above, right at the wall where you had to turn right to keep walking. The last one almost made him scream, because he hadn't expected it, but he composed himself soon enough.

Now, he turned to the right. There were two things in that direction. A painting of an ant, and a door. He held no interest towards the painting. After all, it was a painting. It was doing nothing. His attention turned towards the door. The door was a way into the next room. That was where he had to go. However, upon trying the doorknob, he found that it was locked.

"I probably have to go through the other door first." Mikado frowned. He should have figured that he had to go out of his way to do something. After all, the door to this room had been locked first, and he had had to go in the opposite direction to get the key. The key and his rose. Mikado clenched it tighter. If it wasn't kept safe…

Shaking his head, Mikado carefully walked through the severed arms to get back to the pillar. Good. Good. Even if he was breathing a bit faster than normal because of how close those arms were, he was safe. His rose still had all five petals and he didn't have a scratch on him. The teen got his breath before facing east and walking to the door. Along the way, he passed four paintings. A ladybug, a bee, a butterfly and a spider. "These are all of bugs. Except the spider." Spiders weren't bugs, but whatever. Mikado shook his head as he headed into the door, only to find a large, gaping hole in the floor of the room he just entered.

"I can't jump this distance. I'd fall to my death." So, he was stuck. That wasn't good. With the only nearby vase being empty… his rose would surely wilt. A wilted rose meant a wilted Mikado… Frowning, Mikado sat down to think. There was a tug. A tug at his mind. Something telling him _painting_. "Painting…?" There were four paintings hanging on the wall outside of this room. Maybe it could be a bridge.

Mikado stood and dusted himself off before exiting the room. The first painting he came to was the spider one. Determined, Mikado reached out to touch the painting, so he could take it off the wall. However, as soon as his hand touched the painting, spiders came. Spiders started to spill out of the paintings. The next moment, Mikado's back was against the wall opposite of the painting, breathing heavily. When his hand left the painting, the spiders disappeared.

"The painting… Spiders." Mikado looked around, eyes wide. There were no spiders anywhere. Only when he touched it. "So… not this painting." Frowning lightly, Mikado tried to take the butterfly painting off the wall, only for the exact same thing to happen. As with the bee and ladybug paintings. "What other painting is there?" Wait. There was another. By the locked door. The ant painting.

Inhaling deeply, Mikado set forth, walking between the arms again before reaching it. Touching the ant painting did nothing. With no threat of being swarmed by the bugs, Mikado attempted to pull the painting off the wall, only to fall on his butt. Frowning, Mikado stood and attempted again. This time, he succeeded.

Grinning and carefully holding the painting, Mikado maneuvered around the arms, careful to not let them touch the painting. Because, if that painting broke, he'd be doomed. Finally, he made it back to the unlocked door. He stayed outside of it for a moment before turning the knob and entering. Now, he had to set the painting down and cross. Mikado didn't know why, but he knew it'd hold. Smiling lightly at the fact that he'd be done with this area soon, Mikado set the painting down before crossing it.

When he stepped on the painting, there was a distinctive splat noise. Turning, Mikado glanced at the ant painting. Instead of an ant on the painting, there was a squashed bug. "That's… that's…" He shook his head. It was creepy. Now, there was the other door. He went through without waiting to change his mind.

This door led to a small hallway that led to nothing. There was a key on the ground as well as a headless statue. "Isn't this one of those headless rider statues?" It looked… much more lifelike, as if it could come to life… Mikado shook his head. That was crazy. He'd scare himself shitless if he kept thinking about it. So, he scooped up the key… and heard a noise behind him.

Slowly turning, Mikado came to look at the Headless Rider statue. It was moving. Not much, but it wasn't in the same position it had just been. Then, it took a step forward, and another. It was obvious that it was going to chase Mikado for the key. Wasting no time, Mikado ran to the door, pushing it open and closing it behind him.

"There. That should-." He was interrupted by the door opening, and the headless rider statue coming in after him. Quickly, he fled across the squashed ant painting, turning just in time to see the statue fall down the hole. "The painting only held twice."

Mikado collapsed backward on the ground, so that he was staring up at the ceiling. He laughed quietly to himself, clutching the key in one hand, and the rose in the other. "That was… That was way too close." Shaking his head lightly, Mikado stood. He had to go through the arms and into that locked room. Letting out a small sigh, he exited the room that, again, had a hole in the floor.

He carefully made his way through the screeching arms. Now that he had gotten used to them, they didn't seem so scary. Not at all. Mikado smiled in victory when he finally got back to the locked door. The door he had a key for. Smiling lightly, he pushed the key into the lock so he could unlock the door, and then pushed the door open. First, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Only then did he walk into the next room.

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**Thank you for reading. Last chapter only got three reviews. I'd like to have at least 8 total, five reviews for this chapter, before you get chapter three.**


	3. Cat Room and the Wooden Fish

**Sorry. This was supposed to be up sooner. But I got grounded one day. Oops. Here's chapter three.**

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This next room seemed to be shaped like a cat. A cat head, at any rate. There were two eyes on the wall. They eyes were made of wood and affixed to the wall. Though, the only reason at all Mikado could tell they were attached to the wall and not part of it was because both eyes jutted from the wall slightly, kind of like clocks.

Looking to the left was a door, as well as a door to the right. In front of him was an indent in the wall. Walking closer, Mikado realized that it was shaped like a fish. "So… I need a fish?" He guessed it made sense, seeing as the room was shaped like a cat, but where was the fish? Mikado really hoped that it wasn't an actual fish. Carrying one, alive or dead, to this room would be, well, not pleasant at all. However, which direction did he have to go? Right, or left?

Finally, Mikado decided, and turned to the left to go through the door. There was nothing much in that room. Ten pillars, by the look of it. Well, pillars didn't describe it. It was more like sections of walls were cut out to make parts you could walk around. He could see all ten of these pillars. Pillars since he didn't have another name for them. They were spread evenly in rows. Five and five. He could walk between them, if he wanted. He would too.

On the wall directly in front of him, at the end of the pillars was a spider web, but no spider on it. No living spider, that is. It was dead and most likely just a shell of the spider by now. Not in Mikado's immediate line of vision was a painting to the north, in the center of wall. The painting itself wasn't anything special, something that isn't noted. It's what was around the painting that was…

Blood. Dried blood was leaked all around that painting. It was splattered as if, before the painting was there, someone repeatedly banged a severed arm or leg against the wall to paint it in red. The effect now? Redish brown droplets, long dried and caked onto the wall. It would be there until it was painted over. Towards the southern part of the room, it started to crack away. The floor, that was. The nice, well-kept, red carpet was starting to peel. There were patches missing here and there, concrete patches, beyond the concrete patches were dirt. Dirt where pavement hadn't even been made. Or perhaps it had been worn away. But by what?

Mikado didn't notice this though. At least, not yet. He took three steps forward before something stopped him. A small stick figure painting on the pillar-wall to his right, the north of the room. It in itself didn't actually stop him, but it caught his interest. It was a painting of a stick figure. Yellow text, written in paint, next to him. However, the yellow paint was smudged, unreadable. It was like someone before had been there to tamper with it. And by the looks of it, not intentionally.

Scratchy and high pitched, like nails on a chalkboard, there was a voice. "P… p… PLAY hide and sssssseek?"

"W-what? Hide and seek? What do you mean?" Frowning, Mikado glanced around. The pillars now had curtains and buttons on them. Maybe the stick figure was hiding behind one of these. "But… which one?" If he picked the wrong one, then what would happen? This room had to be mandatory. There was something he had to get. Maybe the fish he needed.

So, Mikado walked over to one of the curtains and pressed a button. The curtain opened, revealing the painting of a woman in a shower. That was all Mikado saw before turning away. A high-pitched lady scream followed, along with the feeling of someone slapping his cheek. A petal fell off his rose, and the painting turned blank. "Four more wrong guesses… and I'm dead." He was nervous now. After all, dying…

Shaking his head, Mikado moved to the pillar that was below the one he had first checked. He inhaled deeply, bracing himself for when a petal fell off, not noticing that there was a small cut on his cheek when the first fell off, and pressed the button. Immediately after, he shut his eyes tight, but did not feel a slap or anything else. Mikado only heard a splat-like sound on the wall in front of him.

Opening his eyes, he saw the safe stick figure man, and sighed in relief. Next to the stick figure was more of that text written in yellow paint. Except, this time, it was readable, and Mikado read it out loud. "Found me, you get a prize." Mikado was silent for a moment. "What prize?"

Turning around to look at the southern part of the room, he was startled to see the carpet. It was torn or not there. Dirt patches and concrete patches as well as just scratched up carpet was there. "Its like it's falling away…" But there was no sigh of any prize there. Reluctantly, Mikado turned towards the north of the room.

There was the painting, but Mikado didn't pay any attention to it. His eyes were on the blood splattered around it. "The blood is dry… was someone killed…?" Suddenly, Mikado was a lot more nervous. After all, this was the last remains of some person splattered against the wall. Remains of the life essence. Blood. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Mikado was about to turn away when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

Leaning down, he picked it up. "A wooden fish head…" So where was the other half? The other room? The one he hadn't been in yet? Maybe… because there was nothing else in this room, and Mikado didn't want to stay in it. Not longer than he had to. And he had already gotten what was supposed to be in this room.

Mikado walked back to the door before heading through into the cat room. Pausing, he looked up at the eyes and shivered lightly before continuing east and through the other door.

In this room were many boxes. All taped shut but a few. There were also headless rider statues, giant stone heads, statues with head, a blank painting leaning against the wall, a painting of a blue rose, a vase and a paper on the floor.

Really, this room just looked like a storage unit of some kind. Walking around all the sculptures, Mikado picked up the paper to read. "Storage unit. So I was right." There was a scratching noise behind him before a louder one.

Turning, Mikado saw that one of stone heads were moving, fast, towards him. He dropped the paper and back away, only to feel the wall behind him. _'S-shit…' _Where to go? But, before he could figure out where, the head tripped over the dropped paper and shattered, startling Mikado.

"H-how do you trip over paper?" Still, he was glad. Sighing, Mikado noticed the wooden fish tail among the pieces of broken stone. Picking it up, he fastend both the head and tail of the fish together, smiling when it created the wooden fish.

Mikado walked over to the vase. He couldn't just let his rose die. Carefully, he placed the rose into the vase, eyes widening slightly when the missing petal actually grew back. That was a relief. But what lay forward? Did he want to go?

Shaking his head, Mikado nodded. Yeah. He did. He had to. There was nothing behind. Nothing at all. Before leaving the room, Mikado examined the rose painting. Strangely it looked like his rose… a copy. But why would it be here?

The lights flickered, startling the teen. He jumped up and ran out of the room, back to the cat room. The lights were on here. The eyes staring at him. Shaking his head, he gently pushed the wooden fish into the indent of the wall.

Immediately, the wall opened up. Meows seemed to come from every corner as a passage went back and back and back and back until Mikado spied a door at the end of it. This was where he went forward. Into the next room. Inhaling deeply, he marched down the hall and through the door.

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**As with chapter two, I want at least five reviews for the chapter, a total of fifteen reviews before the next update. Thank you.**


	4. Lips and Guillotines

**Sorry this took so long but guess what. School gave me inspiration~ We're writing an essay. That's why.**

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This room was yellow. A pasty sort of yellow, but still yellow. Mikado frowned lightly, unsure of if it really was a good idea to keep heading forward or not. There was a path in front of him. A path to the right, and two paintings to the left. The left side had a painting whose tongue was moving about. Unnerved by it, he decided to head right.

Mikado did not notice the warning posted on the wall. This warning was written in paint that was almost the exact same color as the wall. At the end of the narrow hallway that was at the right was an indented wall, as if there were a door there, and a pair of lips.

The lips spoke then. A raspy voice, like an old man asking you if you wanted candy. "Give me something to eat. How about that flower?" The lips were, of course, speaking of the rose Mikado held tightly in his left hand. The rose that seemed to be glowing brighter than before in his hand.

Mikado shook his head. "I can't do that. This flower is my life. If you eat it, you eat my life." The lips seemed to grow cross. A rumbling could be heard, as if the whole room was a stomach telling its owner that it wanted food. Mikado was ready to flee when he felt something bite his hand. "Ouch!" A rose petal fell off and the lips spoke again, that same voice but much more…cross.

"Do not come again until you have something for me to eat. You're life would be good, but I see that it's out of reach." With the lips growing silent, Mikado fled back to the left, until he was back at the intersection he had started at, where there were two painting to the left and a path forward he could take.

The path to the north held a paper on the floor. Not one to forsake warnings, Mikado picked the paper up. "Just when you've forgotten." He frowned and examined the paper some more. "Forgotten what? How I got here? I know that. My reason for being here? I was never told. My goal? To get out." He really didn't know what in the world the paper could be talking about.

Quietly, he placed the paper back on the ground and started to walk north. Halfway through that passage, another of the severed arms came from the wall, reaching towards him with its screaming voice. It seemed to be desperate to grab either him or the rose. This time, the arms seemed to be falling apart. Pieces of it would fall to the floor with a soft 'thunk' before being swallowed into the floor and appearing back on the arm.

When it appeared, Mikado did scream. He was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, face pale. His rose was clutched in both hands and held to his heart. Had the stalk of the rose had thorns on it, it would have made him bleed incredibly fast and loose all four of the remaining petals of his rose.

It took a full seven minutes for Mikado to calm down enough to shakily stand and make his way to the end of the hall. To his right was a hall full of hanged dolls, and to his left was just a door. The decision was easy. To the left he went. There was writing to the right of the door. "The liars room." The door was unlocked, so in he went.

In the room were six paintings and a door. Three paintings were on each side of the door. From left to right, these were the paintings. Grey, as Mikado dubbed it, and evil looking man wearing a long coat which covered his whole body and a hood that hid his face. Pink, Mikado dubbed. A kimono wearing man with gentle pink eyes. Gold was a man slightly shorter than pink who looked to be a royalty, a crown on his head. Then it was the door. Red, a man who seemed insane. Red eyes, pointed teeth headphones and a gun. White. This one seemed similar to all of the previous ones, but was kind looking like pink. He wore a long white coat and had magenta colored eyes. He seemed so full of life. Finally, there was black. This one looked depressed. He was pink, only a black coat with red trimmings. His face was dark and eyes were a bloody red color.

Underneath each painting was writing in yellow paint. It seemed to be a recurring theme, at least at this point, that was. He walked over to Red, before reading that text. 'The only truth speaker wears gray.' White. 'Stand in front of the statue, go east two steps then south two steps. That's the answer.' Black, 'I agree with the one in gold.' Gold, 'White speaks the truth'. Gray, 'Stand in front of the statue, go west three steps, then south one step. That's the answer!' And pink, 'Stand in front of the statue, go east four steps, then north two steps. That's the answer!'

Mikado frowned. "What statue? Perhaps… through that door? Ah wait, which is telling the truth?" He thought about it. There were clues. "Red says that only gray speaks the truth. That means they both lie. White I don't know. Black agrees with gold who agrees with white. That leaves only pink. So pink is right." Quickly, he read what pink said again.

Through the door was a statue. Standing in front of it, Mikado moved right four steps before north two steps. The tile at his feet was loose, and could be picked up. So, Mikado did. The back of the title was a small number. Four and it was purple.

Just then, there were a couple of sounds. Cracking crashing sounds. Sounds that made Mikado want to hide in the room forever. However, he couldn't. The rose would die. And so would he. After shaking his head and attempting to get his legs to stop shaking, Mikado made his way back through the door, only to pale at the sight of the room.

The room now smelled heavily of paint, and with good reason. Red paint was splattered everywhere. "It looks… like a crime scene." It really did. The paint was splattered in a way that it would be a crime scene, except that the body was missing. Quickly, Mikado spun around to look at the six paintings of men, only to pale more.

Five of the men were splattered with the red paint, knives in their hands. The only one that didn't was a painting that no longer had a man in it. That painting was ruined, red covering pretty much the whole of the painting. The painting that was gone was the one Mikado had dubbed Pink. "This means that… the liars killed the truth…" Such a disturbing thought. Quickly, Mikado left that room.

Now, he headed to the right, through the small hall of hanging dolls to a door. The door was locked, but it also called for a code. "Green x times red x plus purple x." Mikado frowned. The x represented a number. He knew that. "I only have the purple number though. So… there are two more numbers in this area I have to find."

Frowning a bit more because he had no idea where those numbers would be, he turned back to the left, only to bump into one of the dolls hanging from a rope, causing it to fall. Mikado's eyes widened, expecting something bad to happen, but it didn't. Sighing in relief, he leaned down to pick the doll up. "Let's get you out of here. Oh? What's this?" Sown onto the dolls dress was a little green eighteen. Mikado smiled at the fact that he only needed one more number before setting the doll against the wall. "You stay here… and thank you." Crazy talking to a doll, but whatever.

He made his way back south, path the arm, so that he was standing in the area he had started in. Mouth to the right, painting with a wiggling tongue to the left. He needed one more number and to the left was the only place he hadn't looked yet, so he went there. Of course, there was still the problem of that painting. When Mikado stood next to it, the tongue stopped waggling and it spit out something, whatever it was landing on the ground in front of him. Frowning, Mikado tried the space a bit farther from the painting, only for the same thing to happen. Gulping, Mikado stood next to the painting.

The spit didn't hit him. Sighing in relief, Mikado walked over to the blank white painting next to it, and observed it. It seemed blank… until he noticed a little red nine. "That means… eighteen times nine plus four. That's… a hundred and sixty-six." Smiling a bit, Mikado headed back to the door that needed a code before inputting that one.

There was a click, and the door opened. The only this in this room was a sculpture of a tree with a single, wooden apple on it. "Maybe I can feed this too the lips…" Quickly, he picked the apple before leaving the room. Back through the hall of hanging dolls and back down the hall with the burnt arm.

And a second one as well. New and reaching for the apple. It scrapped Mikado's arm because he hadn't thought that there'd be a second arm. Not when he had walked up and down that all several times with there only being the one. Again, his rose had three petals. Mikado was looking a bit pale at this point too.

Quickly, it was back to the lips. "An apple. An apple an apple anappleanappleanapple. Give me the apple." The lips spoke quickly and high. But Mikado knew that they wanted the apple. So, he gave it the apple. There were crunches and munches before it was eaten. "As promised, you can go through."

Mikado had expected a wall to open up, but instead, the mouth opened wide. It was a bit taller than he was. The tongue stuck out as stairs and the teeth were jagged. "I-if I go in, it'll be like being eaten!" The lips didn't speak. They stayed as they were. "I-I'll never go forward if I can't get past this…" With a gulp of air, Mikado walked through.

It did not lead him to a stomach or something else. Merely, a hall. A hall with pictures of a guillotine. Each picture down the hall showed the guillotine going higher and higher, until there was a picture with no guillotine there at all. Gulping, Mikado stopped where he was. And it was a good thing too. In front of him, on step in front of him, a guillotine fell.

Mikado screamed. He couldn't help it. After all, there was a bloodied guillotine in front of him. There were stairs there too. At the moment, the guillotine was in front of them, blocking them. However, it slowly started to rise. That was Mikado's chance. He fled south down the stairs, into yet another area.

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**Remember guys. I want five reviews for the chapter. I've been in school for four weeks now though. SO it may or may not be delayed.**


	5. Golden Rose Man

**Sorry this chapter took so long. I only recently got the number of reviews I said that I needed before I would update. So... enjoy chapter five~**

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Mikado nervously glanced around the area. The wall of this room was red now, and it only frightened Mikado to think of it as the color of blood. After he had taken two steps down, a dark figure ran by. But how was that possible? There was only wall to his right, what was the figure's left. Mikado bit his bottom lip and shook his head. It wouldn't be good to dwell on whatever it was. It'd frighten him more. It'd scare him and he wouldn't be able to continue.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a painting. It was simple, so he paid it no mind and continued towards the left. At the end of the hall was another that led north. With no other way to go except back, he headed north.

This new room seemed to be like a mini museum. _Does that mean that all these artworks will come after me? _He shuddered. If they all came alive… Mikado clutched his rose close. It had three or four petals, and surely they'd all be gone if they all came to life.

He sighed as he examined one of the statues in the room, not actually paying mind to it. "I don't really like this. It's too abstract." He shook his head and made his way to the door at the end of the hall, only it was locked.

Mikado scowled. How could he get through if it was locked? Did he miss a key somewhere? Or was it hidden in the room somewhere? He sighed and headed to the right, where there was a painting on the wall.

'Lady Mairu in Red'. That was the painting on the wall. "Wow…" Mikado gazed up at her. The painting. He hadn't really gotten to look at all the works in the museum before he had shown up here. She had glasses, and a braid. And her dress kind of looked like a school uniform. She had a pleasant smile, and Mikado couldn't help but to think she was hiding something behind it. There were no blemishes on her skin either. A bit sadly, Mikado turned to walk away.

That's when he heard a sound. Glass shattering. Like someone had hit a baseball into a window. Scared, he whirled around to see what It was, so he wasn't caught unawares and killed. To his horror, he saw the Lady Mairu in Red picture on the ground. But that's not what made it so scary. Half of Mairu's body was sticking out of the frame. It was in proportion with the original painting, but she had a crazed look on her face. Her previous brown eyes were glowing red, and she was hissing, unable to say real words.

Mikado took two steps back when he noticed something. On the floor, behind the painting, was a key. The key! That's when Mairu used her arms to propel herself towards Mikado, after his rose. He screamed. He screamed and ran in a circle around the statue before grabbing the key. While Mairu was confused, he shakily unlocked the door and made his way in. She didn't follow.

For the moment, he didn't look around the room. No, instead he slumped against the door and closed his eyes to try and catch his breath. Why him? Why was he the only one in this horrid place? Why was he thrown in? _But you weren't thrown in. You were scared of being in the museum by yourself so you willingly walked into the Abyss of the Deep painting._

Mikado scowled at that before opening his eyes and glancing about the room. It was small library, much like how the previous room, where Lady Mairu still resided, was a small museum. However, what made Mikado glad was that there was a door right across from him. But, when he tried the door, it was locked.

Scowling lightly, he decided to look through some of the books. Without really looking, he picked one up. It looked like a little kid scribbled their own little story book. Frowning, he started he read, unable to stop.

_"Happy birthday, Kida!" A girl said this to the only male. Or at least it looked like the only male, seeing as the other two people there were just grey and blank. The person whom was Kida grinned._

_ "Yeah. Thanks Mika! So what's that you have there?" He was referring to the object in Mika's hands._

_ "Pie! I'm going to cut it into four slices. If you get the one with the coin in it, then you'll live a happy life."_

_ Kida grinned as all four of them sat at the table, and Mika cut the pie. She handed one to all four of them, and then they ate._

_ "Oh. Mika, I just swallowed something small and hard."_

_ The girl giggled. "It was probably the coin, Kida. Don't worry. It is small. Nothing to worry about."_

_ Kida rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Guess so." He grinned at that._

_ Mika smiled and picked up the empty pie tray to wash it. However, she ran into her dad._

_ "Mika. I can't find the key to the study. Have you seen it?"_

_ She shook her head. "No. I haven't. Sorry Tsuki."_

_ Tsuki shook his head. "Don't be. It isn't your fault." With that, he picked up the tray, which Mika had set down on a little drawer, and left._

_ "Hey… this is the coin." It had been on the drawer. "SO what did Kida eat…?"_

_ On the next page, Mika had a knife. "Kida was clumsy. But so was I." The next page was covered in blood._

There was a click, and Mikado set the book back, not seeing that it disappeared, and finds that the door was now unlocked. A bit heartened, he walked through into the next area. The first thing he saw was a vase. A huge smile appeared on his face and he replenished the rose. Surprising, the water didn't disappear.

Now he headed to the left, through a door into the next area. It was mostly barren, but there were rose petals on the ground. Goldenrod yellow. Frowning a bit at the thought of someone being dead, he followed them. However, the rose petals led to a locked door. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a nameplate for a painting. 'Lady Kururi in Blue'. But no picture.

Sighing, and a bit afraid, Mikado made his way back to the right, where the vase was, and to the right again. Mikado's eyes widened to see a man on the floor. A blond man dressed as a bartender. "S-sir? Are you alright?"

There wasn't an answer. Mikado knelt down and poked his cheek. Nothing. _There are cuts all over him… _His eyes widened. The rose petals he saw on the ground. Did they… did they belong to this man here? If so… he needed that rose fast. But the door was locked, so how would he?

Mikado sighed and stood. "Sorry…" He whispered. After all, he couldn't help him get his rose back if he didn't have the key. Sighing, Mikado continued eastward, only to stop. A headless rider statue was blocking the way forward. So he was stuck. With a frown, he turned back and walked to the bartender again.

"Do you know how I can get further into this place?" Of course, there wasn't an answer, and Mikado frowned and sat down next to him before poking him again. "I hope you aren't dead… but you still feel warm. So your rose isn't completely destroyed yet, huh?" Mikado leaned his head close, trying to hear if the blond man had a heartbeat. And he did! Mikado grinned, and there was a tiny glitter of light seen from the corner of his eye.

In the blond bartender's hand was a key! Mikado's eyes widened and he grabbed it. Maybe… maybe he could save this man! If he did… then he wouldn't be alone in this place. Truly, it was a good thought. Mikado stood again, and headed west, to the locked door.

But that's when Mikado froze. What if there was another piece of living art in that room? What if it was a trap? Perhaps the blond man was fake so they could kill him… No. Quickly, before he could change his mind and just be stuck there, Mikado unlocked the door and walked in.

He could see the painting in the corner, carefully ripping petals off of a rose slowly. Lady Kururi in Blue? She was different then Mairu. Mairu had glasses, she didn't. Mairu had braided hair, she didn't. And she looked shyer then Mairu had.

However, the moment she noticed him, she let out a screeched and started to claw her way to where Mikado was. And he realized she was slightly faster then Mairu. But, he also noticed that she dropped the rose! He just had to get around her…

He grinned when he did, and grabbed the rose. However, in his haste to get back to the door, Lady Kururi scratched him, and a petal fell from his own rose. Outside the door, he grinned. They could not get through the doors.

_**CRACK! CRASH! SHATTER!**_

Mikado paled. _She jumped through the little window! _There was another door though. To the west. It was the way he had gotten into this area. Not glancing back, he ran towards that door and through it. Anything to get away from the crazed painting.

First thing was first, the gold rose was in the vase. It needed it much more then he did. Then, seeing as the water never seemed to empty, Mikado placed his rose into the vase, and smiled in relief when it regenerated.

Now it was time to head back through the east most door to see if that bartender was alright. Smiling lightly, he entered the hall. Surprisingly, just as he did, the bartender sat up and groaned.

"Gah. My head is pounding."

"Uh… Bartender-san? Are you alright?"

At the sound of another voice, the blond man stood and took two steps back. "I don't know what you crazy pieces of art want, but you already got my damned rose so leave me alone! There isn't anything of value left." He was ready to strike, well aware that it could cause damage to his rose if he did.

"N-no! I'm not art. I was in the gallery. And then everyone was gone and I was here. And I found this. Is it yours?" Mikado held up the golden rose, which the blond man promptly took. "I have one too…" He held up his own blue rose to show.

The older man relaxed his stance and sighed. "Good. If someone experiences this, then I haven't gone crazy." It was now that the man tucked his rose in between the buttons of his vest. "I'm not a bartender either. I'm a debt collector. And my name's Shizuo Heiwajima."

Mikado bowed lightly. "I-I'm Mikado Ryugamine. Its nice to meet you, Heiwajima-san."

Shizuo sighed. "Really, just Shizuo is fine. And have you been by yourself this whole time?" Mikado nodded. "Then I'll come with you. Two's better than one, right? Plus you're younger. Not a kid but not an adult. Can't just let you wander around by yourself. Also I think one or both of us will go insane if we're alone."

Mikado nodded. "Y-yeah. I guess. So how'd you end up here?"

Shizuo just shrugged. "It matter? We're here now. So let's go. I started over there." He pointed to the west, where Mikado had gotten Shizuo's rose. "So now we go this way." He started to walk, oblivious of the painting's spit that landed on his shoulder and the loss of one petal.

"S-Shizuo! You lost a petal!"

Shizuo scowled as he walked out of the spit line, and Mikado crawled under the painting. Then, they continued. Only the statue was in the way. "This isn't a problem." With ease, he pushed the statue out of the way. Only, he misjudged his strength and the statue smashed to pieces against the opposite wall. "…Oops."

Mikado though, was wide eyed with his mouth wide open. "H-how on earth do you have so much strength?! It isn't natural!"

Shizuo just shrugged. "Dunno. Now come on. The next area is waiting." And both males walked through the door.

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**Now then, remember, five reviews before there's another update~ And 'After Dark' will be getting updated really soon too. Also, hopefully, I can get some of me and Seliphra's rps to upload. That's what Losing Face was. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed~**


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